Swiss trip Pointers

 Highlights from the trip

• If you are traveling in peak season say June-July cough up the money and get a first class Swiss travel pass
• Vegetarian food is plenty and almost all restaurants we visited had a veggie burger option and their recipes varied a lot
• In about 3 or 4 areas of Switzerland we had a "Golden India Restaurant" and not sure if they all were from same management
• Watchout for train timings while there for after 8:00PM the frequency reduces from 2 per hour to 1 per hour and sometimes the last train could be at 9:00PM or so
• If you are visiting Zermatt area specifically it is prone to extreme weathers and yes train services can get disrupted and if that happens they do run bus services and just reach the station and see your options
• IF you are in Zermatt area don't look beyond Hotel Romantica for stay, wonderful family owned place with amazing hosts and great breakfast
• The Mantra for Swiss travel was to leave hotel/apartment early and reach venue before 8:30-9;00AM to beat crowds
• Remember its Alpine and weather can change at a moments notice
• Depending on region of Switzerland, you will encounter either French or German and very little Italian and most tourist spots speak good enough English
• Lot of towns and villages take pride in being car free and some of them are only accessible by cable cars or cogwheel trains
• Don't trust Google maps for public transport and instead use the SBB app for it can give the right direction down to the last step to the hotel, won't guide you like step by step but helps a lot and more accurate than Google maps
• The number of modes of transportation the Swiss have built is mind boggling from electric buses, trams to high speed trains to gondolas to cable cars to cogwheel trains and all of them running like a well oiled machine is a feast and treat to marvels of Civil Engineering
• Every single day we accumulated at the least 15000 steps on average
• Coop, don’t know if it’s co-op or coop but they are pretty ubiquitous and they are like the HEB and Walmart hybrid. If they have a restaurant they have the best breakfast for a cheaper price
• If you really want to get a taste of Swiss I highly recommend stay in one of the off places and not the city centers like Zurich or Geneva or Interlaken
• If you are remotely interested in hiking the alps even the simple ones, I highly recommend either a hiking boots or a trail running shoes with Vibram grip sole. Yes there is a difference between with and without the Vibram grip.
• For sure the things in Swiss start late and end early specially in the remote villages and hence plan your day a bit with care
• Sorry to say, I couldn’t develop a taste for Fondue
• Swiss cows are another fun aspect for every single one has a bell around their necks and on the rainy day on top of Grindelwald a herd of them were making a music of their own
• If you are in Mt.Pilatus don’t forget their toboggan ride and if you are adventurous and in shape do their rope course. For sure it’s world class and not for the faint hearted
• Mt. Titlis is good too and does attract a lot of Indian visitors evident from the fact they served Indian food in their cafe
• Zurich hosts the Guinness record holding longest serving vegetarian restaurant Haus Hiltl, worth a visit or more and food is always great there
• Most attractions offer tickets in advance and I highly recommend checking the weather and booking your ticket in advance. Thanks to my wife Sandhya for taking care of it for us, for sure she saved quite a few hours for us.
• If there is 1 hike I recommend it will be the Mannlichen to Kline Scheidegg, beautiful hike with the mountains right in the face. Wengen in general has lots more hikes and maybe in the future we will explore. Of course walking in and around Wengen is a hike in itself.
• Make time and spend the morning for breakfast at the restaurant Piz Gloria yes the bond movie was shot there and the restaurant rotates and I assure you great food. Highly recommend their breakfast. It’s 2 step one is to buy the breakfast and next step reserve a spot too.
• Sundays everything is mostly closed, barring some museums and tourist attractions most shops are closed.